From West African mines to zero-carbon production lines, Zhanjiang Iron and Steel creates premium green steel products

A reporter recently learned from Baogang Co., Ltd.’s Zhanjiang Iron and Steel that, relying on high-grade Simandou iron ore, China’s first one-million-ton-class near-zero-carbon production line has successfully produced greener, higher-end steel products, achieving full-chain integration of “mine development—ocean shipping—pelletizing preparation—hydrogen-based vertical furnace—electric furnace smelting—low-carbon steel coils.”

The Simandou project, located in Guinea in Africa, is the largest overseas iron ore project in scale that is led by China and driven to build; the project has been jointly advanced by China Baowu in coordination with central enterprises such as China Aluminum and China Railway, and throughout the entire process it uses “Chinese standards,” “Chinese design,” “Chinese construction,” and “Chinese equipment.”

As a world-class high-grade hematite ore, the Simandou mine has high iron content and low impurities, which can reduce coke consumption during the smelting process, making it a high-quality strategic resource that supports the manufacture of high-end steel. However, the Simandou mine’s high-alumina characteristics had also, at one time, posed bottlenecks for the traditional pelletizing process. Through independent innovation by the Zhanjiang Iron and Steel team, they rebuilt the process logic and precisely controlled the process parameters, successfully overcoming this technical challenge.

With high-grade pelletizing and efficient electric furnaces, Baogang Co., Ltd.’s Zhanjiang Iron and Steel achieved industry-first launches of multiple series of high-end products with low-carbon emissions, including cold-rolled ultra-high-strength steel 1180DP, high-grade IF automotive steel sheets, and non-oriented silicon steel. These products have also become preferred materials for strategic industries such as new energy vehicles and high-end home appliances. From West African mines to a near-zero-carbon production line, this “green corridor” spanning mountains and seas has been opened up to link overseas high-quality mineral resources with domestic advanced manufacturing.

Source: Xinhua News Agency

【Source: Cyberspace Administration of Zhanjiang】